The Top Ten Most Corrupt Tax Breaks

Did you know the mortgage interest deduction can be applied to yachts? Big million dollar yachts?

Or that even though the five biggest oil companies made a collective $137 billion in revenue last year, they also got $20 billion in tax breaks?

A year ago Citizens for Tax Justice, a Washington, D.C. nonprofit, studied the tax returns of 280 corporations. What it found was from 2008 to 2010, at least 30 Fortune 500 companies -- including PepsiCo, Verizon, Wells Fargo and DuPont -- paid more for lobbyists than they did in taxes.

They collectively spent $476 million sucking up to Congress, buying protection for tax breaks, loopholes and special subsidies.

See this week's online extra feature "The 10 Most Corrupt Tax Loopholes" for more on the exact ways certain companies are not only getting incredible benefits but are making you, the ordinary taxpayer, pick up more of the tax load so their special deals can continue.

Margaret Downing is the editor-in-chief who oversees the Houston Press newsroom and its print and online publications. An award-winning journalist, in addition to editing, she frequently writes on a wide range of subjects.